Measuring and filling machine.



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R. J; WORKMAN. MEASURING AND FILLING MACHINE. APPLIDATION FILED HAY 18,1909.

`Pai'fented June 14, 1910.

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IIHIIIIH [lll WITNESSES;

. H15 ATTORNEY it NITED STATES 'PATENT ormon- RQBERT J'. WOBKMAN, OFSANl FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOB. OF GNE-THIBD TO NOAH W. IYORKMAN,F SAN FBANCISCQ, CALIFORNIA.

HEASURING AND FILLING MACHINE.

Application led lay 18, 1909. Serial No. 498,808.

To all whom it may concern: A

Be it known that I, Ronnnr J. WORKMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing in thel city and county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Im rovements in Measuring andFilling Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a machine for filling cans, jars, and the likewith various substances, and particularly pertains to filling machinesused in canneries for lacing fruits, vegetables, soups, meats and t elike into cans or other receptacles. i

It is the object of this invention to provide a filling machine that issimple in construction and operation, and in nhich the substanceshandled are correctly measured so as to insure the pro er amount ofmaterial being placed in eac receptacle.

A further object is to provide a filling machine that is automatic andadjustable and which is so constructed that there will be no waste orloss of materials in the filling operations.

The advantages of a machine of this character are numerous, but chiefiylie in its labor saving and sanitary properties, as well as its rapidityof out ut.

In filling cans an the like b machinery it has heretofore proved a dicult matter accurately to measure the substances so as to de 't anequal-amount in each can, the machines now in use being more or lessunreliable in that regard.

In this invention I have devised a machine that is adjustable so thatany desired quantit of material may be placed in a can am? which iscapable of filling any sizes or style of can or jar now in use.

The machine is designed to have interchangeable parts and attachments sothat almost any kind of materials can be handled,

such as liquids' of various consistencies,

powders, grains, or meats.

The invention consists of the parts and the combination and'construction of parts or their e uivalents as hereinafter more fullydescri ed and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawin inwhich:

Figure 1 is a side elevation o the invention with parts broken away.Fig. 2 is a section on the line X X Fig. 1, showing the driving shaft inelevation. Fig. 3 is a plan view. Fig. 4 is an enlar ed detailed view ofthe measuring wheel. ig. 5 is a detail of the device for actuating theplungers. Fio'. 6 is a detail in perspective, of the slidab e bearings.Fig. 7 shows 'a square plunger. Fig. 8, (Sheet 1) is a side view of thecam.

In the drawin s, A is an intermittently' rotated filling W eel, mountedon the end of a shaft 3 which carries a ear wheel 2; shaft 3 is mountedin a suite. le bearing 4 on the frame of the machine. The gear 2 meshesintermittentl with a 1inion 5 on the driving shaft G, ig. 3, whichlatter is rotatable an suitable means through the pulley he engagementand disengagement of gears 2-5 is done by the following means: One endof the shaft 6 is mounted ii. a transversely slidable bearing block 8,particularly shown in Fig. 6; a channel 9 bein provided with grooves 10in which the ase ot the bearing 8 may slide. An adjustable spring 11 ctsagainst the bearin 8 to retain gears 2--5 normall in mesh. l cam 12 ismounted -n the sha 6 in such manner that as it revolves the projectingcam piece 12 is caused toslide over a stop 13, thereby forcing chebearing 8 along the slide or channel 9 so as to disengage the pinion 5fromthe gear 2v and .compressing spring 11; spring 1l returning thepinion 5 into engagement with gear 2 after the cam projection 12" passesthe in 13. The shaft 6 is of such length that its flexibility willpermit of the slight movement required at its machine end to disengagethe pinion 5 from. the gear 2. The other end of the shaft 6 may bemounted in a swivel bearingl if required, or a fixed bearinv, looselyfitting the shaft ma be emplo eds, as the mmement of the sha is verysight.

The rim ofthe wheel A is provided with the side rim flange.l i4 :so asto form a peripheral channel which contacts with the inner surface ofthe fixed band 15. This band is constructed in two parts, one end ofeach being secured to the frame of the 1 machine, the other ends meetingat 16, where they are connected together, Fig. 1.

The wheel A is provided with diametric- :illy opposed fillingarimeasuring chambers 1 the outer ends of which ropen in the peripheralchannel and against the cylinder.

as at 20, andlocking the two sections to.

gether after being adjusted by suitable means, as the bolts 20', theobject of this adjustment being to ada t the filling chambers to lillcans of dierent sizes. The plungers of each bar are operated in unisonand synchronously with the movements of the wheel, so that each time thewheel is stopped the lowerrnost cylinder wil discharge its contentsthrough the open' into the cans or other receptacles 31, w 'le thetopmost chamber will receive a predetermined quantity of fresh materialfrom the hopper or other suitable'feeding device represented by 28. Theactuation of these plungers is effected as follows: Suitably positioned.with respect to the discharge opening 30 in the rim 15 of the machineis a. sliding bar 22, carrying a roller 21. The

bar 22 is capable of a limited up and down sliding motion and of alimited pivotal motion in a plane parallel with the plane of the wheelin suitably slotted fixed guides 23 on the machine frame. l A spring 24has one end ixedto the stem 22 and the other end fixed to one of thenormally to pull the ro er 21 downward. Another spriner 25 is suitablyconnected to the roller so that it will exert a backward as well as adownward pull on the roller when the latter is lifted up to a positionrepresented in dotted lines, Fig. 5. This ro ler 21 is suitablypositioned with-respect to curved tracks 26 carried onthe arms of thewheel and adjacent to the hub portion,

' so that at each quarter revolution of the wheel one of the tracks 26will engage underneath the roller 21 and raise this roller upwardagainst the tension of its springs 24 and 25 until the rear or innermostend of this track which -carries the roller is in such position thatwhen the roller rolls oil the track 26 it will strike against a collar27 on a plunger stem 18, whereu n the spring M will exert a downward puradial to the wheel to move a pair of plungers and cause the lowerlunger to expel the contents of its cham r out through the o s ing 30and into the receptacle 31 to be li led. In order that the roller willnot leave its track sooner than is desired, a suitable detent may beemployed, such as represented at 32, which will normally be interposedvthe detent is rocked b ides 23 and actsacross the track so as to form astop to the com lete traverse of the roller along the trac but whichdetent will be actuated at the right moment so as to let the roller comedown on the collar 27 to actuate the lunger iiithe manner justdescribed. This geteilt may take any suitable form, but as here shown itcomprises a latch meniber 32 pivoted at 33 and operated on by a spring34 normally to carry the detent over the track. As a track carrying theroller 21 approaches a horizontal position, Fig. 4, engaging with afixed trip mrmber 35, t ereby allowing the roller to run off the trackand upon the plunger collar 27.

The materials w be canned are fed to the fllin and measuring chambers 17from any suita le source of supply, as a hopper 28. through suitableconnections as a union an ni le 29 secured to the rim band 15.

e cans or other receptacles to be filled are fed to the dischar 30 bythe following means: An adjustaiolgise runway 36` is oonstructed beneaththe wheel A insuch manner tat cans, jars or the like may be slid under te dischar opening 30. The height and breadth of t is runway ma beadjusted to accommodate any size or s ape of can. The cans are fed tothe runway throu h a ma azi'ne cylinder 37, which may be led anreplenished by an desired means. The magazine cylinder 37 as adiameter alittle larger than that of the can -iised, so that the cans stand in asingle column within the magazine cylinder. A feed block 38 slides inthe runway 36, and under the ma azine cylinder 37, and is reci' rocatedb and forth by means of a 39 mounted on a disk l0, rotated by suitablemeans, such as the sprockets 41' and chains 42 which connect the disaY40 with the drive shaft 6. The reciprocation of the block 38 across themouth of the chute 37 is so timed throu h the gearin of the sprockets 41that t e block will o in its most rearward sition at the moment a can isunder the discharge 30 and being filled. The instant the can is filledthe block is moved forward against a can 31, which causes the other cansin ad- -vance inthe runway to be moved forward the width of a can whichis the length of the movement of the block 88. The next can to be fed tothe runway 86 from the cylinder 37 thus rests upon the block 38, whichon being moved back allows the can to drop into tharunway 86, there tobe moved forward by the returnstroke of the block 38. In this manner acontinuous feed of cans to the dismay removed from the runway in anydesirfolcll manner. be. I ed r operation power ingy app i 'to t emachine at 7, the substance to be canned is los iis

chare 30 is accomplished. The filled cans 125 deposited in the hopper28. The wheel A 1313 interval of time required the wheel A is caused tostop by means of the stance flows or is een agement of the is revolvedthrough the gear 2 and pinion 5 until the mouth of a chamber 17 isdirectly below the inlet pi e 29, whereupon the subrawn into the chamber17 by the downward stroke of the plungers 19, as before described. Thedown stioke of the uppermost plunger 19 draws the material into itschamber 1'?, while the down stroke of the opposed plunger discharges thecontents of its chamber, previously filled. through the outlet into acan 31. During the small for this operation,

cam 12 throwing the inion 5 out of mesh with the gear 2. The riction ofthe band 15 is suiiicient to act as a brake and stop the revolution ofthe wheel A as soon as the dispinion is effected n the construction ofthis machine, the pinion 5 is so proportioned to the gear 2, that as thelatter is revolved once, the former will be disengaged as-man times asthere are chambers 17 on'the w eel A. In this manner the wheel A iscaused to stop as each pair of chambers 17 becomes vertically opposed toeach other, so that one is being fi led while the other is emptied. Theclose contact of the band 15 to the rim of the wheel A, together withthe flanges 14, prevents any leakage from the chambers 17 as the wheelrevolves from the point of inlet to the discharge.

The plunger rods 18 being adjustable, permit of the plungers 19 beingar: anged in the chambers so as to increase or decrease the capacity ofthe chambers as desired. When it is necessary to fill a can of largercapacity than that of the chambers 17, the can feeding mechanism may beso ad'usted through the s rockets 41 that a can will remain under theischarge 3) until two or more chambers 17 will have emptied theircontents therein.

The lun er heads 19 are rounded to corres on wit the peri hery of thewheel A, an stops 45 are provi ed to limit the downward stroke, so thatthe knife edge of the discharge'opening 30will contact with the plungerhead and renove any substance that may adhere thereto. Ihis arrangementinsures the complete emptying of the chambers 17, the knife edge alsotionable drip so common in machines of this nature.

It is manifest" that this filling machine is readily adaptable to.render it suitable for handling materials requirin a forced feed likemince-meat, or to hande granular dry isibstanoes, such as powders,cereals, and the The machine as. shown in the drawings is designed tofill cylindrical cans, butl it is obvious that square or other formedcans could be as readily handled by changing the shape ofthe plugins 19and chambers 17 to correspond; su for instance, as seen in Fig. 7,

preventing the objec Having thus described my invention, what` I claimand desire to secure by Letters-Patent 1s- 1. A filling machinecomprising an inter-i mittently rotatable carrier havin filling chamberstherein, limi-fers in said c ainbers formin bottoms tiierefbr, meansconnecting o po plungers, the outer ends of the c ambers open with afixed segmental closure for said chambers means for rotating thecarrier, and means for operating the o posed plungers synchronouslytherewit said plunger operating means eing adjustable.

2. A filling machine comprising an inter mittently rotatable carrierhavin filling chambers therein, lun ers in said c ambcrs formin bottomst ere or, means connecting opposed plungers, the outer ends of thechambers o en with a. fixed segmental closure for said chambers, meansfor rotating the carrier, and means for operatin the o posed plungerssynchronousl t erewit said operating means for the plungers comprising areciprocating device mounted indepen ently of the carrier, with means onthe carrier for positioning said device to engage the plungei's to movethem.

3. In a fillin machine, the combination of an intermittent y movablecarrier havin peripheral pockets, plungers in the pocets meansconnecting opposed plungers so that they move in unison, a fixedsegmental rim engaging the periphery of the carrier to close thepockets, means for pending the plungers, said last named meai .cludin aroller member yieldingly sup. -rted in ependent of the carrier, means ciied by the terrier for lifting said roller n. "iber, and mean's forcausing it to act on s when released from said lifting means.

4. In a fillin machine, the combination of an intermittent y movablecarrier havin peripheral pockets, plungers in th',` -poc ets, meansconnecting opposed lv' e-rs so that they move in unison, a fix -egmentalrim engaging the periphery c. the carrier to close the pockets, meansfor operating the p lungers, said last name(J means includin a A 'ungeryieldingly supported member mounted in ependent of t e carrier, andtrack members on the carrier engageable with said member.

5. In a fillin machine, the combination of an intermittent y movablecarrier havin peripheral pockets, plungers in the poc ets, meansconnecting opposed glungers so that they move in unison, a fixesegmental rim engaging the periphery of the carrier to close thepockets, means for operatin the plun rs, said last named means inclu inga rocks. le sprin actuated, reci rocating rod carrying a rol er, tracks`on e carrier engaging the roller to reciprocate the rod in onedirection, and means connected with the lungers engageable by the rollerwhen the atter is released from said tracks.

6. In a tillin machine, the combination of an intermittent y movablecarrier havinperipheral pockets, plungers in the poc ets, meansconnecting opposed plungers so that they move in unison, a fixedsegmental rim engaging the periphery of the carrier to close thepockets, means for o rating the plungers, a shaft upon which t e carrieris mounted, a gear on said shaft, a countershaft, and a inion thereonmeshing with said-gear, said) counbershaft having a fixed bearing at oneend and a movable bearing at the pinion end, the movable bearing c'oxn'-prising a block operating in a suitable slideway, a spring acting on theblock to carry the pinion and gear normally into mesh, and a cam memmr'on the countershat oooperating with means on the gear to disconnect thegear and pinion intermittently.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twomzbscribing witnesses.

ROBERT J. VORKMAN.

Witnesses t s CLARENCE PENFIELD, CHARLES Ennmun.

